CFP – Politics at Play: Children and the Politics of Everyday Life

CALL FOR PAPERSPolitics at Play: Children and the Politics of Everyday Life

Call for abstracts for the panel “Politics at Play: Children and the Politics of Everyday Life” for the AAACIG (American Anthropological Association Child Interest Group) in Charleston, South Carolina. February 16-19, 2011

DEADLINE for abstract submission: November 28

Anthropology, perhaps more than any other field, is particularly attuned to the political than lies outside the domain of formal or official politics. Scholars of children and youth have been key in this regard, demonstrating that there is more to children’s political lives outside traditional lenses of political socialization, or the political actors that children will be. Instead, a robust literature has coalesced concerning not only how children’s lives are structured by politics, but how children themselves speak directly to the politics, policies and programs that affect their lives, often challenging and reformulating them in the process. Much of this productive work occurs in and around children’s play, a domain that abounds with subversive potential and possibilities to highlight and challenge the contradictions of everyday life. This panel seeks to bring together current work on children engaging directly with the politics of everyday life and encourages discussion on reconceptualizing the political sphere from the child’s perspective and how to integrate this work into larger analyses that exclude children. Possible themes can include kids engaging directly with politics of race, space, nation, Empire, the body, but are not limited to the former.

Please submit abstracts by November 28th (conference deadline Nov 30th), although a brief statement of interest before then would be greatly appreciated. Please send to mariakromidas@gmail.com.